NVCSA

Northern Virginia Cued Speech Association

Cue Camp

What is Cue Camp Virginia?

Held annually over the Columbus Day weekend, Cue Camp Virginia (CCVA) is an unforgettable learning weekend for families, friends, educators, and hearing health professionals who want to learn the Cued Speech system and/or find out more about Cued Speech and its many applications.

In the tranquility of the Williamsburg, VA, 4-H Center on the James River, participants learn and improve Cued Speech skills; learn about raising, educating and communicating with a deaf or hard-of-hearing child; and share the experiences of other families and professionals. Overnight or day-camper rates include all meals and camp classes/activities.

CCVA offers adult Cued Speech classes at the Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Transliterator levels, and provides presentations of interest to both parents and professionals.

Children’s classes and/or childcare are offered throughout the duration of all adult classes. Exciting children's activities offer opportunities to make life-long friends and meet inspiring role models. Two levels of Cued Speech are taught to children’s groups.

Cue Camp activities begin on Thursday evening and run through mid-day Sunday. Attendees can use the Monday holiday to visit the historic Williamsburg-Jamestown area, or to relax and catch up after the excitement of the CCVA weekend.

CCVA is run by volunteers from the Northern Virginia Cued Speech Association (NVCSA) and is sponsored by NVCSA fund-raising, a grant from the National Cued Speech Association (NCSA) and donations from various corporate and community entities.

Why are Cued Speech and Cue Camp VA important for families?

In 1966, R. Orin Cornett, Ph.D., invented Cued Speech to address the problem of low literacy rates among the signing deaf students at Gallaudet University where he was serving as an administrator. Dr. Cornett determined that many of the deaf students had not acquired the 'complete language' base necessary for advanced reading comprehension and literacy.

In the United States, the language of academic literacy is American English. However - contrary to common assumptions - American Sign Language (ASL) is not the same language as spoken/written American English. Dr. Cornett observed that ASL does not parallel American English grammar and does not have a written or spoken form. As a result, many signing Gallaudet students were expected to read, comprehend, and write in a language they had never been given the tools to fully access. Dr. Cornett invented Cued Speech to address this problem.

Cued Speech is a simple and finite system that allows the deaf or hard-of-hearing person to receive a clear and unambiguous visual representation of all the sounds of a spoken language. (At Cue Camp Virginia we teach Cued American English, but Cued Speech has been adapted for 60 different languages.) A family that cues to a deaf child can provide complete access to the language spoken by the family, regardless of the degree of the child’s hearing loss.

Research has shown that the family provides the most influential language model in the child’s early life. Full access to the language used in the home also contributes greatly to self-esteem, to a sense of belonging, and to the development of age-appropriate social skills. Because over 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, most of these families are not equipped to serve as language models in ASL. However, with the use of Cued Speech, they can quickly become effective models of the language already used at home.

When the language of the home is a spoken language, early cueing has been proven to provide a deaf child with the most complete comprehension and fluency in that language.

Language comprehension is the key to a child’s ability to read, write, and communicate at the level of hearing peers. With use of Cued Speech, a deaf/hard-of-hearing child can reach his/her full academic potential, even as school subjects become more and more complex. Cueing teachers and/or use of Cued Language Transliterators in classrooms can ensure clear and unambiguous access to academic material, enabling the student to focus on internalizing the information instead of trying to figure out what was said.

At Cue Camp Virginia, families and professionals have to opportunity to learn the entire system of Cued English in one weekend, without the distractions of everyday life. Participants can gain confidence and be supported by others who are on the same journey. They also see first-hand the successes of families and professionals who have been using Cued Speech for many years. Camp provides an opportunity to learn about the many benefits of Cued Speech, to learn how to advocate for Cued Speech as a way to meet a child’s academic needs, and to receive educational and moral support for their efforts as they implement Cued Speech in their family or professional life.

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Next CUES ON TAP
Cues On Tap is from 7 to 10 pm on the 2nd Saturday of each month. Check our Facebook page. Cuers of all levels and people wanting to learn Cued Speech are welcome! (There is no Cues on Tap in August.)

Cued Speech Myths & Facts
NCSA has several articles and materials that will help break the myth about Cued Speech.
Link to PDF's

The Washington Post: Cued Speech Offers Deaf Children Links to Spoken English
On September 27, 2010, the Washington Post highlighted Cued Speech and the benefits of its use.
Read the full article here.